


Knightess of the Moon (Cassandra S3 AU)

by stories_by_tangled_dreamer



Series: Tangled the Series S3 AU: The Quest for Destiny [2]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Angst, Lots of Family Fluff and love tho!, Minor Characters on the brink of death, some blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24685708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stories_by_tangled_dreamer/pseuds/stories_by_tangled_dreamer
Summary: Cassandra is lead into a mysterious door in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow's and is lead by a mysterious ghost child to discover her true origins....
Relationships: Captain of Corona's Guard & Cassandra (Disney), Cassandra & Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider (Disney), Cassandra & Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra & Varian (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra & Zhan Tiri
Series: Tangled the Series S3 AU: The Quest for Destiny [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784800
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	1. Taking What's Mine, Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on a bunch of TTS/RTA S3 rewrite AUs, including one where Cassandra isn't the daughter of Gothel and has a different motive for taking the moonstone opal for herself. Super pumped to work on this! 
> 
> NOTE: This fic is connected and is in the same universe as the Zhan Tiri fic that I posted recently. The ZT fic helped me alot with the direction I'm going and I plan to expand on it eventually. Enjoy! :)

“Cassandra….”

That voice, that soothing whisper, Cassandra, taking out her sword, was very skeptical yet drawn to it. She slowly opened her eyes after wincing from the bright light.

“There you are Cassandra,” spoke what seemed to be a little girl with a sweet voice. But she was so unusual. She looked like a child in a Gothic dress whose hair was tied up in two buns and wore a beaded headdress with a gem on her forehead. But she was so blue and transparent; so mystical and peculiar, perhaps she was a ghost... “I’d nearly given up on you!”

“Who are you?” Cassandra asked, her sword still drawn up high.

“A friend, or at least I’d like to be,” the ghost answered with an innocent smile.

“Why am I here? What is this place?”

“Why it’s Corona of course!” Exclaimed the ghost cheerily. “Or perhaps... a forgotten part of it,”

Cassandra looked all around her and realized she was no longer in the House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow’s. All she could see was a grassy, lush, garden environment. While it did look like the outskirts of Corona, what did the ghost mean by “forgotten”?

“Come,” the ghost started. “There’s something I must show you,”

“Wherever you’re taking me better have a blonde princess,” Cassandra said as she followed the ghost, still keeping her sword in hand. 

They walked across the grassy landscape and entered a slummy neighborhood. Cassandra recognized that she was in Old Corona, but it looked like a much more neglected part of it. The houses looked like they were falling apart and the narrow streets were unevenly paved. There were beggars in ripped clothing at the sides of the streets pleading for whatever they can get to feed themselves. And there were merchants behind shabby kiosks selling different kinds of simple goods. Looking all around her, Cassandra followed the ghostly girl throughout this area, but she felt quite strange. She’s never seen this place, or hasn’t she? It just didn’t feel right. 

As they reached a wooden, rundown house, Cassandra put her sword away and glanced in awe. Wait a minute? Why did they stop at this particular house? It felt so familiar to Cassandra but she just couldn’t understand why.

“This place, why does it seem so familiar? Where are we?” she sternly questioned the ghost.

Without responding, the ghostly girl simply grabbed her hand and strangely dragged her as they went through the wall while Cassandra cringed. She looked around her, eyes wide open as she scanned around her. The house was fairly small, with seemingly no more than three rooms. In front of her there was a dinner table around which sat a family of four, including…

“Recognize that child?” Asked the ghostly girl.


	2. Taking What's Mine, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassandra discovers who her birth family is and her lost memories begin to unravel and come back to her...

That child had pale skin, long, curly black hair and protruding, hazel-green eyes, and she wore a simple green dress. She had a big smile on her face, although the food on the table was simple and pretty little; just bread, cheese, and some vegetables, perhaps what the family could afford. There also stood a woman who was serving the food into her children’s plates. She had olive-brown skin, curly brown hair tied into a messy side-braid and beautiful, hazel-green eyes, just like her daughter’s. After she put food on her daughter's plate, she bent down and kissed her on the crown. Across the table sat a young boy around the age of twelve with short, scruffy black hair, deep gray eyes and dark brown skin. He instantly started digging in when the food was on his plate. Right next to him was a slender man with pale skin and gray eyes, who was putting food in his own plate as he shook his head at his son. Cassandra scanned the scene very carefully, with a tingling feeling rising inside of her.

“Is that…?” She asked, then hesitated as she looked toward the ghost.

“Your family,” the ghost finished. “Yes, yes it is,”

In shock, Cassandra looked back at the family as they were conversing over dinner.

"How was work, today gentlemen?" The woman at the table asked as she sat down to start eating.

"Well Lenna, it was going fine," the man answered, then turned to frown at his son. "until this rascal decided to scare away the customers," he finished the sentence bitterly as he nudged the boy, who was more focused on his food than anything.

"Damion…." Lenna sternly started. "How many times do we have to tell you not to threaten people like that? We have a quota we need to meet, otherwise the shop owner won't show us mercy nor will we have food next week,"

Damion didn't answer, he was too focused on eating that his father had to nudge him again to get his attention.

"Wait what?" He asked with his mouth full.

Lenna gave him a stern look and reiterated her concern. "How many times do we have to tell you not to be rude and scare off the customers?"

"But mom, they were going too far with the bargaining and I got sick of ‘em. Either they buy the stuff at full price or leave,"

"Damion, we live in Old Corona. Of course people will bargain because they can't always afford everything they..."

"Wait a minute Mom!” Damion interrupted. “How come you're lecturing me about how to treat customers when you chase people with a stick"

Lenna cleared her throat. "First of all, it was very rude of you to cut me off while I was talking. Second, those were thieves stealing from us, I simply had to take back what they stole. That was totally different,"

"Ugh, fine! I won’t do it again," Damion answered, then went back to devouring his dinner, hardly stopping to take breaks.

Lenna shook her head, then smirked at her husband.

"He got all of that from you, Alden," she teased as she pointed towards him. Alden chuckled, then continued eating.

“Mama,” the little girl spoke. “Can I come with you to the market? I wanna run after bad guys too!”

Everyone at the table froze and looked at her in amusement. Damion rolled his eyes at her and before he could say anything, Lenna chuckled and grabbed her daughter’s hand.

“Oh Cassie, sweetheart,” she started gently. “You deserve a life so much better than this. Both you and Damion. But for now, you take things slowly and have fun, ok?”

“Ok mama,”

After seeing all of this, Cassandra looked down as she slowly processed what she was seeing. Her memories of her childhood and her true origins began to unravel themselves to her. Her birth parents were Alden and Lenna and she even had an older brother. But something still didn’t make sense. Why didn’t she remember them? Something was indeed missing. Cassandra continued to observe the scene, so that maybe she could get some answers about her past....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for the next chapter! It will be focused on Damion and Cassandra and give more insight into their sibling relationship! ;)


	3. Taking What's Mine, Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before going to bed, Damion reads Cassandra her favorite storybook: The Adventures of Madeline the Brave, about a fieresome, ranger warrior woman whom Cassandra loves dearly and dreams to be like her someday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with a new chapter! You will get more insight into Cassandra's relationship with her older brother Damion. This chapter will be full of fun stuff! Also I would love to give a huge shoutout to my friend @monicascorner on tumblr, for helping me out so much with the writing style and helping me with writing some of the paragraphs here.  
> Enjoy!

After the family had finally finished their supper, they all got up and were ready to call it a night. Alden joyfully roared when he lifted up little Cassandra and raised her in the air as she squealed in excitement. He pulled her towards close to his heart for his warm, special bear hug. 

“Careful, Alden!” Lenna chuckled. “You don’t wanna crush her!”

Alden carefully put little Cassandra down on the ground and walked over to Damion. He jokingly grabbed Damion in headlock and rubbed his head with his fist as his son laughed. Lenna shook her head and laughed, then went to little Cassandra to give her an affectionate hug.

“I love you, mama!” Little Cassandra spoke lovingly. Lenna planted a sweet kiss on her daughter's forehead. 

“I love you too, sweet Cassie. Good night, sweetheart,”

Lenna then walked over to Damion and placed her hands on his shoulder, giving him a warm smile.

“I just want you to know that all I want is what’s best for you son. And I hope you take my words seriously,” She said, pulling her son in for a hug, while he simply sighed in annoyance. Damion and little Cassandra then went into their bedroom and shut the door, followed by Cassandra and the ghostly girl who were able to walk through it. 

Cassandra was full of curiosity about her older brother and wanted to know more about her relationship with him. She thoroughly observed the room that she once slept in as a child. The room was small and cosy with enough space for two small beds. At the end of the room, there was a small armoire right next to a simple wooden bookshelf with a few books in it. Little Cassandra ran to it eagerly grabbing her favorite book: The Adventures of Madeline the Brave. The cover had a ranger warrior woman dressed in black and green who held her sword up high, with a mighty hawk flying in the sky above her.

Cassandra was taken aback when she saw the title of the book. She didn't remember any of her childhood but that name rang a bell for her. She observed the little girl run up to Damion pushing the book up towards him with a huge smile on her face.

"Damion read me Madeline! Please! Please! Pleeeease!" She begged. Damion rolled his eyes and tried to slowly shove her away, only for her to persist her pleas.

"Cassandra I read you that book a million times. Go to bed already!"

Damion tried to go to his bed, only for little Cassandra to bounce onto it to prevent him and held the book towards him.

"Pleeeeease," she begged one more time jumping up and down, with bubbly, puppy-dog eyes, still keeping her huge smile. Damion shook his head and groaned.

"Alright, fine! I'll read you the book but you better go to sleep afterwards!"

"Yay!" Little Cassandra cheered as Damion grabbed the book. He shook his head, but then he smiled as he opened the book. Cassandra warmly grasped her doll of Madeline the Brave, a stuffed hawk toy, and her wooden, toy sword as she sat on his bed, eagerly waiting for him to start.

With pure enthusiasm and impressive vocal skills, Damion read the story of Madeline the Brave, a fieresome, young, ranger warrior who would travel across the country, encountering ruffians, bandits, and other no-good-doers. She saved many little kids from kidnappers and brought them back home to their desperate families. And of course, she never backed down from any fight, be it a sword fight or far away arrow attacks! Not to mention her fieresome friend Hawk, who would fly in to aid her in her battles. Not many people knew of Madeline, but those who witnessed her knight ship would remember her, and tell her tale of heroics for generations to come.

Soon, Damion put down the book when he finished the story, he picked up a toy sword, and both him and Cassandra role played the story, with Cassandra playing Madeline and him playing all the villains she fought. They ran around the room and jumped up on the beds as they battled for victory. Cassandra chased Damion around with her toy Hawk, threatening to target its prey, causing Damion to scream in terror. Damion then swooped up Cassandra in an attempt to disable her from defeating him, and twirled her around as she squealed and giggled. Damion finally fell to the ground in defeat and little Cassandra stood over him pointing her toy sword at him with a smile of victory on her face.

“Stop right there!” She voiced Madeline's famous quote.

“I surrender!” Damion yelled, putting his hands up as if to prepare to be turned in for arrest.

After running around and acting out their favorite scenes, Cassandra and Damion finally met their limit. The loving brother tucked a sleepy Cassandra into bed and she quickly began to doze off, holding her Madeline and Hawk dolls close to her heart. 

“Good night, Cassie,” Damion said, then planted a kiss on his sister’s forehead. 

“Good night Damion,” she yawned, finally dozing off completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story by me, credits for the writing of most of the paragraph about the Madeline the Brave book and third to last line goes to @monicascorner! Thank you so much again! As always! I'm always open to feedback and suggestions from readers! :)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next up: the answers to what happened to Cassandra's family, why she no longer lives with them or has any memories of her childhood! It will be exciting but angsty! Be warned! xD


	4. Taking What's Mine, Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The answers to Cassandra's mystery about her past is finally revealed, but it was something she did not expect, something that changed her whole entire life....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now......(drumroll).... ANGST LOVERS! HERE'S YOUR JUICE!!!

Cassandra smiled warmly as she watched the two sleeping siblings after their intense playtime. But something still felt amiss. A part of her wanted to know why she didn’t remember her family but she was so filled with terror. What if the truth turned her whole world upside down?

Still she had to know…

“What...what happened?” she asked hesitantly. “Why don’t I remember any of this? W-Where did my family go?”

At that instant, in a snap of the ghostly girl’s finger, the world around Cassandra suddenly faded but shifted to something completely different. Instead of the sleepy siblings, the beds were occupied by two individuals desperately grasping onto life. On one of the bedside tables were a few cloths and a tonic bottle knocked over. Cassandra walked up to one of the beds, but her eyes widened as she gasped and nearly fell back from what she saw.

It was Damion. He was unconscious, his brown skin dimmed and was turning bluish. His limp body covered by the blanket looked inches away from death and his breaths were very light and barely noticeable. Cassandra heard violent, rough coughs from behind her and turned around to see who it was. On the other bed lied her father, Alden. He grasped his handkerchief which was covered in blood as he continued to cough. His skin was much paler than usual and his black hair was fading. He winced agonizingly as he put the handkerchief beside him. He feebly turned in his bed to look towards his wife with his weary eyes, who stood at the far end of the room weeping hopelessly.

"Lenna p-please," He started, his weak voice rasping as he struggled to speak whilst coughing. "Please, t-take…Cassandra... and...go,"

Lenna stood firm, but wept harder when her husband's cough got more and more violent. Cassandra walked over to the memory of her mother. Even though she didn't remember her, she felt distraught seeing her cry. She lifted her hand towards her mother's face, wanting to wipe off those tears, wanting to comfort her, but her hands just went through.

"No," Lenna whimpered. "I can't and I won't,"

"It's...too late...for us Lenna, please. T-t-take...Cassie and...and be safe.... please,"

The last word escaped his lips like a soft whisper and he could barely keep his eyes open. Lenna wiped the tears from her eyes, then she swiftly walked out of the room followed by Cassandra and the ghost. She made sure to shut the door after her, before approaching her daughter who was standing outside of the room waiting. 

“Mama?” little Cassandra asked, tilting her head to the side. “Where’s daddy and Damion?”

Lenna didn’t answer her daughter. How could she even? 

“Come,” she said with a sniff. She forced a smile and lifted her child into her arms. “We’re going on an important mission to help your dad and brother,”

As quick as a cat, Lenna ran out of the door and through the streets of Old Corona whilst carrying her daughter. Without hesitation, Cassandra quickly chased after, her heart thumping in her chest as she raced against the harsh wind that beat at her face. Her legs heaved as the unevenness of the earth tested her agility as she chased after the answers she sought. But she didn’t care. She needed to know the whole story. Her eyes burned with tears as she thought about her brother and father and what they were going through. They were gravely ill and it looked like there was no hope for them. But was there any chance they could’ve survived? Even a slim one? 

By nightfall, when the stars glimmered in the dark sky and lit the way, they finally reached the bridge that connected the mainland to the island and darted across. Lenna persisted on her journey to the Corona castle through the lavish busy streets, Cassandra’s lifelong home that she had left almost a year ago. Her legs heaved even more as she raced up the mountainy island after her mother until they reached the peak where the castle was. They went through the grand courtyard and up the stairs until they reached the great, red double doors with the golden Corona crest. Cassandra watched Lenna put the child down and lifted her tightened fist to knock on the impenetrable door with all her might. She kept knocking as loud as she could over and over again, pleading for someone to come and answer her. It was long before one of the doors finally opened. Cassandra peaked around her mother to find a tall, slender man wearing a long red coat over his elegant, white shirt. Cassandra recognized his face; his pinkish fair skin, thick brown eyebrows, and his large wedge-shaped nose.

It was Nigel, but he looked so much younger. Instead of his traditionally long brown hair tied with the yellow ribbon, it was much shorter, and he did not have his signature thin mustache. His face twisted and his eyebrows slanted downwards as he looked towards the woman in rags.

“Ma’am please!” He spoke harshly. “The queen is very sick and in labor. We don’t need any of this nuisance at the moment!”

“Sir please listen!” Lenna pleaded. “There’s a plague spreading in Old Corona, and.. and my son and husband, they…”

“I’m sorry ma’am, but there’s nothing I or anyone in the castle can do to help you. We’re in an emergency situation now and the Queen is dying,”

Nigel formally apologized once more, before finally shutting the door in Lenna’s face. In horror, she ran to the door and repeatedly knocked and screamed at the top of her lungs.

“No! No! Wait! Please!” She screamed as tears gleamed in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “Please! Help me! My son and husband are dying! Many people in Old Corona are dying! Please help me!” 

With her fists and head pressed against the door, she finally fell to her knees and sobbed uncontrollably. She grimaced hard at the rejection for help and her entire face glistened from all the tears. Little Cassandra walked over to her mother not fully comprehending the scene but knew that something was wrong.

“Mama,” the little girl started. “Are daddy and Damion hurt? Are they gonna be ok?”

Lenna wiped her tears and tried to dry her face with her fingers as much as can, for she could not face her daughter like this. She looked at her daughter lovingly and pulled her close to her heart for a deep, warm hug. Her fingers tightened around her daughter’s dark black curls and she gripped her shoulder with her other hand, amidst her shivering. 

Cassandra breathed heavily and used all her strength to contain her tears from leaving her eyes. She knew that Nigel heavily prioritized royal duty and order but still, this did not seem right. How could he turn her mother away like this? She knew that Queen Arianna was in a dire situation when she was giving birth to Rapunzel, but couldn’t the castle at least have sent some kind of aid to Old Corona? 

She watched as Lenna got up and grabbed her daughter’s tiny hand, finally walking away from the Corona castle. Lenna wobbled in her movement, unable to run, but trying not to trip and fall over. Her face was red and weary, and her eyes were hollow and filled with despair. Cassandra followed close behind through the streets until Lenna froze. She stopped and stared at a large, brick building; it was an orphanage. Wind blew against Lenna as she stood and gripped her daughter’s tiny hand. Slowly and steadily, Lenna finally walked to the door. 

Cassandra hesitated. She didn’t want to believe whatever thought came to her mind. She waited a long while outside of the building with fear building up in her heart. She needed to know the full story, but her skin was crawling. The truth that was right before her, behind that door. But was it worth it? She slowly walked towards the wooden door and trembled as she walked right through it. She saw Lenna kneeling down before her daughter and she heard her sniffing as she began to talk.

“Dear sweet Cassie,” Lenna started, trying to speak despite her shaky, heart-shattered voice. “I need you to listen to me very carefully. Your daddy and Damion need me at the moment. But I need you to stay here, where you will be safe and healthy. And I want you to know that I truly, dearly love you and that whatever happens, I want you to stay strong... stay brave,”

Lenna finally let go of little Cassandra and turned around, wincing as tears ran down her cheeks. Little Cassandra’s eyes widened in shock and horror as she saw her mother walk away. Her mouth started to tremor as tears filled her eyes and when she tried to follow her mother, she was held by the matron. She writhed and struggled against the matron as she screamed and cried for her mother to come back. Cassandra looked on at her mother, whose paces grew faster and her face grew dimmer when she walked towards the door, not looking back even once. 

“Mama!” Little Cassandra repeatedly cried, her sobs growing more and more uncontrollable. Suddenly the world around Cassandra started to fade and the sharp cries of the little girl were gradually silenced. Nothing was left but an empty building, no people, no sounds, nothing. Cassandra felt nothing but numbness and finally sunk to her knees. Her void world filled with nothing but anguish and hurt. Memories that she locked away for so long, buried so deep in her mind, finally resurfaced. She shivered and felt nothing but cold all around her. She was no longer able to contain her tears, and they finally rolled down her cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed all the angst if that's your thing! ;) I wanted to thank my friend Monica so much for assisting me with the writing style and feedback! <3 Stay tuned for next chapter...


	5. Taking What’s Mine - Lines Now Crossed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ghost child tell Cass her own backstory. Cassandra finally succumbs to her anger, which led to her betrayal of Princess Rapunzel and her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The events of this fic weave into the events of Rapunzel’s Return, therefore the end parts are mostly from the episode itself.

Cassandra sat in her place, still crying, still heart shattered. Out of nowhere, the ghost re-appeared by her side, looking sympathetically at the broken-hearted Cassandra and laid her hand on her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Cassandra.You didn’t deserve to go through all of that,”

Cassandra said nothing. But with the ever-growing sadness and pain consuming her heart, she felt a surge of anger start to build up inside her. She growled and swiftly took out her sword to aim it at the ghost.

“Who are you?!” She bitterly asked, still sniffling with tears and raising her voice as she spoke each word. “And how did you know about my past? Tell me now!” 

The ghost, holding her hands up high, sighed. “Well if you insist,” She started, tipping her finger on the sword’s end, clearly unaffected. “My name… is Madeline,”

Cassandra looked down then back at the ghost, lowering her sword as she let the ghost speak.

“I’m the spirit of the moonstone opal and I was trapped in it for eternity. That was until King Edmund of the Dark Kingdom tried to destroy it, which led to my release.” Madeline paced around as she continued to speak, Cassandra stood still as she continued to listen to her story. “I know of your past because I was on a journey to Corona to try to reunite the sundrop with the moonstone and along the way, I witnessed what happened to you and your family,”

Cassandra shut her eyes and her face tightened. Should she just believe Madeline or not? But at the same time, she wasn’t wrong at all about her past. And Cassandra had some idea about the moonstone and the Dark Kingdom from some of the stories Adira told them.

“As for my quest to retrieve the sundrop, it was a failure because King Fredric uprooted the flower,” Madeline sighed and her face twisted with disbelief as she continued to tell her story. “You see, the sundrop flower, while it had good uses, it’s mostly been used for horrible selfish reasons for thousands of years. You see? The very sickness that killed your family and many Old Coronans also nearly killed Queen Arianna. And instead of using the sundrop’s power to heal everyone afflicted by it, he thought selfishly about only saving his own family,”

Cassandra flinched and looked away. Madeline wasn’t wrong. Each of her words rung in her head. If the sundrop was used to heal the people of Old Corona, she still could’ve had her family here with her now. But they were left to die and her mother had left her in an orphanage to keep her safe. And now she didn’t know what became of her…. Whether she was dead or alive.

“You see Cassandra, the royalty of both Corona and the Dark Kingdom misused the sundrop and moonstone. The Dark kings and queens spent millenia hiding the opal from the world and neglected the people of the Dark Kingdom while their homes were destroyed and they were forced to flee. They were both too beguiled and distracted by these heavenly powers, they just... don’t care for people like you,”

“That’s not true!” Cassandra snapped. She had Rapunzel, who was her best friend. They did run into problems recently, but she knew she could confide in her. She had to talk to Rapunzel about what she saw just now. Surely she would be able to help fix all of this and bring justice, right?

“The princess will be of no help to you, Cassandra,” Madeline interrupted her racing thoughts. “She’s naive and doesn’t understand a lot about Corona’s royalty and its history. Surely she wouldn’t learn anything about it from having fun and playing games,” she snickered.

Cassandra felt an urge to speak up and defend Rapunzel, but before she could say anything, Madeline continued. “Besides, Rapunzel is following her father’s footsteps to the throne. Do you think she’ll care for what you say? She is the princess and you’re simply just her handmaiden,” 

Madeline’s words stung Cassandra’s heart as she was approached by her, but she couldn’t bring herself to look her in the eyes. Her head was completely in the clouds and she didn’t know what to think anymore. Rapunzel was her best friend, she wanted more than anything to stay true to that. But why were Madeline’s words becoming more believable? More than anything, she wanted to keep her faith in Rapunzel. To believe that fulfilling her destiny would bring balance. But would it bring justice to her fallen family or those in Old Corona who were continuously ignored till this day? Would she really be heard and taken seriously by Rapunzel? She finally looked up at Madeline, who was standing right in front of her.

“Afterall,” Madeline started. “The last time you tried to get Rapunzel to listen to you, well…” Instead of finishing her sentence, she reached for Cassandra’s burnt hand and held it up. Her hand, her maimed, charred hand hidden beneath her suit of armor. Her hand that she had lost full ability of and had to re-learn to use because even though she found a way to defeat Hector in the tree without anyone getting hurt, Rapunzel insisted on using that incantation that left her scarred. Because Rapunzel refused to hear her out, she had to experience that massive, traumatic, intense burn, which she still felt until now.

Anger boiled inside of her and surged through her veins. Her fingers clenched around the hilt of her sword as she finally succumbed to her heightened fury. She took her sword and threw it across the empty room with a viscous growl. Her breaths grew harsher as she hyperventilated. No more hope was left inside her, just anger and resentment. She walked over to grab her sword, with her footsteps growing louder with each move she made.

“However,” Madeline started. There is something you can do about all of this. You can bring an end to all of this injustice. The key to bringing balance and ending this disparity is all in your hands…”

Cassandra hesitated, then picked up her sword. “I’m listening,” she finally said as she turned to face Madeline, waiting to hear her destiny.

***

Cassandra stood firm at the edge of the moonstone chamber, where the moonstone was once encased. Her hair and eyes now shined in fiery cyan, and her dark brows were pulled down in fury. She glared ahead of her at Rapunzel and Eugene, who stood across the bridge still bewildered by her betrayal. On Eugene’s shoulder was Pascal, who was still reeling from nearly being blown away by the moonstone’s blast.

"You saw all of this in the House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow’s?" Rapunzel asked shakingly.

“I saw everything, Rapunzel!” Cassandra snarled back.

“Cass, if what you’re saying is true, it means....”

“It means that your father ignored my people, MY family! He turned his back on those who needed him and I won’t let that happen again, no more,” Cassandra clenched her fists and with each word she spoke, the moonstone embedded on her chest flickered and sharp black rocks erupted from the ground around her.

“Cassandra please, listen to me,” Rapunzel started, with heartbreak filling her bright green eyes as she pleaded. “I am so sorry this all happened to your family and I understand your anger. You did not deserve any of that. But this… this is not right! Please just give me the moonstone and we can both figure something out! We can speak with my father when we get back to Corona, but please just...”

“NO!” Cassandra interrupted. “I am not taking any orders from you anymore!”

“Cass, please, we are friends. In fact, you are more than just my friend, you’re like my sister,”

“Sister?!” Cassandra snickered as the flickers from the moonstone grew more ferocious. “You cast me aside and didn’t take me seriously! I spent my entire life being cast aside like I was nothing. But now, I am done waiting to be heard by you or anyone! Now, it’s my turn to fulfill my destiny,” She reached for the moonstone opal and clenched it tightly.

Suddenly the doors of the moonstone chamber opened. “So what did we miss?!” Asked Lance cheerily as he, Adira, Maximus entered the room. 

“Lance! Not now!” Eugene whispered sharply. Lance, Adira, and Maximus were taken aback when they caught sight of the now moonstone-altered Cassandra. 

“Cassandra please, let me help you,” Rapunzel pleaded as she cautiously progressed towards her fallen friend. “Stay Back!” Cassandra exclaimed as she backed away whilst black rocks emerged around her. 

Rapunzel, growing more determined, frowned as she walked past the black rocks to reach out once more. “Cassandra! You’ve got to give me the moonstone! It is too dangerous! The whole world is at...”

“I said STAY BACK!” Cassandra screamed as the moonstone flashed wildly like lightning and she took cover behind her clenched fists. Suddenly a massive black rock spurted from the ground thrusting against Rapunzel. In terror, she quickly grabbed her long hair which wrapped itself around her as a beaming, golden shield but screamed as she was thrown across the bridge.

“Rapunzel!” Eugene exclaimed as he witnessed her slam into the ground right in front of him. He quickly lifted her up and held her in his arms with an immense worry filling his eyes. Rapunzel barely opened her eyes to look at him but immediately flinched as the pain took over her muscles. Eugene’s eyes widened in terror but his face quickly turned into a frown.

“CassANdra!” Eugene yelled as he ferally breathed. Then Pascal squeaked in anger right away. Cassandra finally glanced around her, but was shocked and curious at the immense power she witnessed coming from the opal and from her suit.

Suddenly, Adira drew out her shadow blade and charged at the confused, yet vengeful Cassandra. She sliced through the black rocks that stood in her way until she finally reached Cassandra and pushed her against the wall with the blade.

“Release the moonstone, Short Hair! You don’t know what you’re dealing with,” Adira demanded.

“Neither do you!!” Cassandra yelled, giving into her full rage as the moonstone sent a full blast against Adira, violently jolting her against a black rock. In shock, Lance quickly ran to Adira’s side and held her shoulders. “Breathe easy, your Lance is here,” He assured her. In response Adira rolled her eyes at him while she gripped her throbbing arm. 

The shadow blade, which slipped into the air from Adira’s grasp when she was hit, fell right in front of Cassandra. It was hers now; hers to help her fulfill her destiny. She heaved it up from the ground and put it behind her for her moonstone armor to form a sheath around it. Finally, she sprinted right towards the opening of the moonstone chamber. Eugene let go of Rapunzel and made an attempt to stop Cassandra, one final chance to stop her from leaving into the world, only to be fiercely struck by a black rock as she ran by him. Ensuring that Eugene was alright after the blow, Rapunzel finally chased after Cassandra. She desperately called out to her friend who was almost as good as gone…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Basically the events of this chapter lead into Crossing the Line (A fave of mine)! After this chapter, I'm going to take a bit of break from Cass's arc so I can start on my Eugene (DPE) Season 3 AU! Stay tuned!

**Author's Note:**

> Stay Tuned for more!


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